The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for controlling an electrical appliance by means of a remote control transmitter.
Remote control of electrical appliances, such as television sets, light fixtures, fans, and the like, is well known in the art. Generally, each remote control transmitter is dedicated to control a particular appliance. This means that the user must be equipped with a large number of such remote control transmitters if a large number of appliances are to be remotely controlled. The need to have a remote control transmitter for each appliance to be remotely controlled increases the costs and decreases the convenience, in providing the advantages of remote control for the many types of appliances normally operated by a user.
Providing converter devices for remote control transmitters to adapt them for operating different types of appliances via a Learn Mode has also been proposed, as for example, described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,905,279, 5,081,534, but apparently, such converter devices have not found wide spread use.